Kingdom Hearts: Day of Darkness
by SuperKamek
Summary: Nex is a sixteen-year-old boy who is trying to understand why he has the power to wield the Keyblade. However, what he questions more is why Heartless seem to ignore his very presence. The answer he discovers will change him forever. This story takes place in an alternate dimension from the real KH. Please Follow, Favourite and Review!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Darkness was all I could see around me, but I could not see yet. But I could hear. I heard the sound of rain falling, animals crying and... Footsteps? Yet they were not calm footsteps. They were fast. Were they running from something? I felt arms around my back as if they held me to keep me safe. Then, voices. I heard voices, yet I could not understand them.

"It's okay... It'll all be okay..." said a calming yet out of breath female voice from above me. She must've been the one carrying me.

"It'll all be over soon, just you wait" she said "You'll live a happy life and never have to be afraid of the darkness ever again. I promise."

Still the person ran with me in her grasp. I did not know what she was running from, but it still frightened me. But I didn't cry. Something deep inside me told me that crying would never solve a problem, and instead would worsen it.

Suddenly, the woman holding me gasped and stopped in her tracks. Someone had appeared before her. While I couldn't see the person, something told me he was here for ill intent.

"Give me the boy, Jolene" said the new person in a dark and foreboding male voice.

"No..." the woman, apparently named Jolene, said "I will never give you my son!"

"I've tried to be nice with you, Jolene," the man said "But it looks like you leave me no choice. You're such a delicate flower, but if this is the way it has to be, then so be it!"

"NO!" Jolene shouted as her grip on me tightened to protect me. I was expecting something to happen, but nothing did. Instead, a new male voice spoke.

"Jolene, are you okay?" he said.

"Yes" Jolene was still trying to catch her breath from a near fatal experience "Thank you..."

"Now, as for you..." I heard the new man turn his body to the other man "Leave this place immediately, or face the consequences."

"The consequences?" the other man chuckled a bit "You cannot hurt me. I am-"

"Shut up!" the nicer man yelled "I know exactly who you are, and you need to be put down!"

"A shame I could not recruit you, my boy" the other man said "You would have made a fine addition to my army of darkness. Shall this be our final battle?"

"The first thing you've said that we can both agree on!" the good man said as I heard him ready himself for combat "Come on! Jolene, run!"

"Okay" Jolene said as she began to run in the other direction from where the two men were fighting each other "It's going to be alright..." she spoke to me "I need to hide you from him, but where...?"

Jolene slowed down for a second to think on where she was going to hide me. Then, I felt tears on my face. They weren't my tears though. They were Jolene's.

"I know exactly where you need to go..." her voice sounded sad "Come on..." she began to run again to wherever she was taking me.

After a while, she stopped and I felt her kneel beside something while still keeping me in hand. I felt more of her tears fall on my face before she wiped them off with the soft touch of her free hand.

"Here it is, little one" she said "Now, promise mommy that you'll-"

Before she could finish, I heard a loud booming noise from behind us. This was when I finally opened my eyes to the real world and saw the woman who had been carrying me. She had ginger hair and bright blue eyes with both fear and sadness in them. She was clothed in a black robe with a long zipper of sorts and a hood. Jolene closed her eyes tightly and hugged me as tight as she could without hurting me.

"No time now. I need to jump too..." she said in a teary voice "I'm so sorry... Riku..."

That was the last thing I remember her saying before she jumped into a bright blue portal of sorts with me still in hand, screaming all the way down. As we fell, I think I was going delusional for I saw two Jolenes falling with me...

XXXXXX

Darkness once again. Only, this darkness didn't last long. Light began to shine from somewhere. I heard a creaking sound. A door? Yes, that's what it was, for a person had exited from the light to look down upon me.

"What's this?" the person asked in a rather old female voice "A child? Who would just leave them here without even ringing the bell? I suppose it matters not now. Come along, little one..."

The person proceeded to pick me up from the floor and bring me inside the warmness of her home.

"Do you like it?" the person asked me, though I had no way of responding "I hope you do. You are such a cute baby... I wonder why one would want to abandon you? Whoever they are, they aren't very smart."

The woman hugged me softly.

"Come, let us bring you to your new room..." she spoke again "You must be so cold from the darkness outside..."

XXXXXX

Sixteen years later...

XXXXXX

"...up..."

"...wake..."

I was sleeping like a log, as well as snoring like a boar at the same time. I couldn't hear the voice trying to awaken from my slumber.

"Oh for the love of..." the voice said again "WAKE UP!"

"WAAAA!" I abruptly awoke from my sleep, hitting my head on the wall that was next to my head. Next to me was a girl my age who was folding her arms in frustration. She had blonde hair and green eyes. She wore a small blue jacket and red t-shirt that exposed her belly, as well as long black pants and bright red shoes.

"Ow..." I rubbed my head in pain before I turned to the girl beside me "Jeez, Emily! Why do you always have to do that?"

"Cause you're a lazy pants!" Emily argued "It's already eleven in the morning and Mrs. Jun has made breakfast for us!"

"What?" I asked "Well, I'll be down in a minute then."

"You better be" my best friend said "Mrs. Jun's food'll get cold soon. Don't be late again, Nex!

"Alright, alright..." I sighed.

My name is Nex. I'm a sixteen-year-old guy with blue eyes and red hair. My usual wardrobe consists of a black zipper jacket, a blue t-shirt, brown pants and salmon shoes. I also wear my favourite black sports hat atop my head. I was adopted by Mrs. Sarah Jun after she found me outside her house as a baby. She was basically my mother, and I loved her more than anything.

I lived with my best friend Emily. She too was adopted by Mrs. Jun, but was found in Twilight Town's plaza. Oh yeah! I live in a wonderful place called Twilight Town; a town that's in eternal twilight.

XXXXXX

TWILIGHT TOWN

XXXXXX

You think that's weird? That's nothing compared to what I learned a few days ago. I was just minding my own business when all of a sudden, a huge key-shaped thing with a long silver blade and golden brace with a brown handle and chain dangling from the back appeared in my hand. Naturally, I tell Mrs. Jun, who proceeds to tell me it's an ancient relic known as the Keyblade. It was used to defeat creatures known as the Heartless, a race of shadowy beings who's only purpose in life is to cause grief and suffering among people. Fortunately, no such things have ever come to Twilight Town. And if they have, they haven't caused much grief or suffering.

I walked down the carpet stairs of the two floored house only to be greeted by the one and only Mrs. Jun who had the friendliest smile on her elderly, yet kind face.

"Nex, you precious boy" she said as she hugged the life out of me "Oh, it's good to see you're awake."

"Mrs... Jun... squeezing... lungs..." I managed to say from her tight grip on me. Emily, who was down here with us, just giggled at my suffering.

"Oops! Sorry, dear" Mrs. Jun said as she stopped hugging me "Now, since you were up so late, your breakfast has gone completely cold. A shame too. I made eggs and bacon."

"What, really?" I asked "Mmm... my favourite... I'll still eat them. Nothing can get between Nex and his eggs!"

"Nex and his eggs?" Emily asked "What are you, a duck?"

"Maybe..." I smiled. Emily just stuck her tongue out at me.

"Now, now, children" Mrs. Jun calmed us down "Why don't you two head over to Kyra's house and say hello to her after Nex is finished with his meal, hmm?"

"Sounds good" Emily said "Alright, Nex; eat up!"

XXXXXX

"I can't believe it took you all that time to eat those eggs and bacon!" Emily complained as we walked down Twilight Town's many alleyways to our friend Kyra's house "You said you liked them!"

"I do!" I argued "I was just savouring the flavour."

"Oh, and flavour is more important than our friend, hmm?" Emily crossed her arms in frustration "I can't believe you sometimes, Nex."

"I'm sure she'll be fine for a few minutes" I said "Besides, it's not like she was waiting for us to come over to her house."

"Nex, she depends on us" my friend said in a calmer voice "Yes, she may be smart for her age, but that doesn't mean she can support herself. Her mother's dying; you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know..." I said "Alright, I understand. Thank you for that, Ems."

"No problem" Emily nodded and smiled "Look, I know sometimes I go a little hard on you, but I'm just worried for your wellbeing. It's faint, but I can see a typical 'Bad Boy' thing is beginning to sprout out of you. Now, let's not waste anymore time, eh?"

"Nex! Emiwy!" we both heard a young female voice call from the end of the alley we were walking along. We looked to see a small, seven-year-old brunette girl with purple eyes, long braided hair and a pure white flower dress (AN: Think Naminé). Her face was one of pure happiness.

"Kyra!" I shouted gleefully. Both Kyra and I began racing towards each other until eventually I stopped to catch the running girl in my arms. I then proceeded to lift her up and hug her.

"Nex, you're back!" Kyra said as she hugged me back "I was gettin' wowwied that you forgot 'bout me..."

"Kyra, I'd never forget about you" I said into her ear "You're too cute to be forgotten."

"Thanks, Nex!" Kyra giggled. I put her down as she continued to give me a cute smile.

"So, how's your mommy?" Emily asked our little friend in a concerned tone "Is she hanging in there?"

"She's doin' fine, I guess..." Kyra's smile faded and she hung her head low "Mommy keeps tellin' me that soon she'll go to a better pwace. I keep tewin' her that if she left, I'd be sad. So she promised ta stick around a bit wonger!"

Emily and I looked at each other with concerning looks. Kyra didn't quite understand why her mother was always in bed and coughing. We never wanted this to happen to her, but eventually her mother's time would come. What we were most worried about was how Kyra was going to react to her mother's... passing. You see, her mother was infected with a rare and deadly disease. They would buy a cure, for they were no poor family, if it wasn't for the fact there existed no such cure. It made my best friend and I feel slightly helpless, but we did all we could to help around the house.

"May we go and see her, Kyra?" Emily asked.

"Of cowrse!" Kyra beamed once again as she began to walk back to her house, skipping all the way. Emily and I just stared at each other in hopes that the little girl's mother was okay.

XXXXXX

"Mommy, I'm home!" Kyra shouted as we entered her house "I bwought Emiwy and Nex with me too!"

"Hello, Kyra" her mother called from upstairs "Could you please come to me to speak? I can't... *cough* *cough*... seem to do so myself."

"Okay, mommy!" Kyra innocently said before she took both of our right hands and began rushing up the stairs and into the little girl's mother's room, where Kyra's mom, Lucy, was lying in bed.

"Ah, Kyra" said the long haired brunette with green eyes said under her bed's covers "And Nex and Emily too. What a surprise..." she smiled softly before coughing again "Kyra, honey, would you be kind enough to leave Nex, Emily and I for a bit in private? Why don't you play with those new toys of yours, hmm?"

"Okay, mommy!" Kyra smiled and exited the room merrily.

"Nex, Emily..." Lucy began "You two know that I don't have much longer in this world, right?"

We both nodded.

"Well, before I pass, I want you to...*cough* *cough* *cough*... adopt Kyra for me" Lucy said, much to our surprise "I know that may be a big request but... *cough* *cough*... you two are the closest people to family Kyra has. I want her to be happy and grow up to live a happy life. Can you do that for me?"

"We would be more than happy to" I said "Though, I'm not sure how Mrs. Jun would react to another kid in her house."

Lucy simply chuckled.

"Well, I'm sure she can make some room somehow" Lucy said with a smile before she winced in pain a bit "Ugh... I feel awful. I think my time is here. Before I go, I want to say goodbye to Kyra. May you get her for me?"

"Of course, Lucy" Emily bowed as she went to retrieve our young friend.

"Nex..." Lucy said, getting my attention after watching my best friend leave for a second "I sense that you will have the grandest of adventures with my daughter *cough* *cough*. You're such a wonderful person, Nex. Never forget that, even in the darkest of times. Promise me?"

"I promise" I smiled.

"Thank you..."

"Mommy?" Kyra questioned as she entered her mother's room "You wanted ta see me?"

"Kyra, come here for a moment" Lucy motioned her to come over, which of course the young girl did "I sense that my time is coming. I'll be going to a new world soon."

"But mommy, I don't want you to go" Kyra said "I want you ta stay here and sing songs to me and brush my haiwr when it's all diwrty!"

"Shhhhhhh... it's okay..." Lucy began stroking her daughter's hair "It'll all be okay. I need you to promise that you'll be a good girl when I'm gone and that you won't get into trouble. Can you do that, before I go?"

"*sniff*... Yes, mommy..." Kyra was now crying "I pwomise..."

"Thank you, by dearest sweet, beautiful daughter..." Lucy said before she held out her hand and gently took a hold of her daughter's hand, smiling all the while "You'll always be... my little angel..."

Lucy slowly closed her eyes and breathed her last breath. Lucy was gone.

"Mommy?" Kyra asked her mother "Mommy? Have you weft? Mommy?"

Kyra held her mother's hand tighter and began to cry.

"Mommy..."

Suddenly, we all heard a loud booming sound coming from outside the house.

"What was that?" Emily asked me.

"I don't know" I said "Stay here with Kyra; I'll go check it out."

"Understood" Emily nodded before I took off for the outside world. Once stepping outside, several people ran past me with looks of terror on their faces. I looked to see what they were running from and saw three small black creatures that were hunched over, had glowing yellow eyes and two antenna-like things sticking out of their heads.

"What in the name of heck are those things?!" I questioned. As soon as I finished my sentence, I felt something in my hand. I looked and saw that I had summoned the Keyblade once again. If that was the case, then that must mean these creatures were...

"Heartless..." I said with a bit of fear in my voice.

XXXXXX

Author's Note:

Hey y'all, SuperKamek here once again with a new story! Now, I'm here right now to tell you something extremely important: this story will take place in a different universe from the one we're used to. All of our favourite characters are here, just not as we remember them. Now if you're ever confused about something in this story, just remember that SK told you that this is in a non-canon universe. Get it? Got it? Good.

So yeah, this is my first fanfic that DOESN'T have ponies in it. Fancy that. I really like Kingdom Hearts and make sure that you favourite and follow if you're onboard the Hype Train as well for KH3!

Until then, I'll see ya later Scraggsters!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

So these were the Heartless that Mrs. Jun told me about. They were certainly not quite what I was expecting with their small size and all. But if they're a threat, then I needed to get rid of them quickly. Wasting no time, I began to attack the Heartless with the Keyblade by swinging it around wildly. That seemed to do the trick as the Heartless exploded into darkness once I hit them a few times.

"No corpses?" I wondered "Well, at least the clean-up crew will have an easier job. Anyway, why are the Heartless attacking Twilight Town? Why now? Something's gotta be up with that, and I need to find out what."

"Nex!" I heard a voice behind me. I turned around to see Emily holding Kyra by her hand.

"Emily, I thought I told you to-" I began to speak before my best friend interrupted me.

"Did you actually think I would pass up a fight like this?" Emily asked cockily "Kyra can help us too, right Kyra?"

"Yeah, I can!" Kyra said with determination, but still with a hint of sadness behind her face "I can bwast all the baddies with my magic!"

"You know magic?" I asked "That could be useful... Alright, you two can come along. But I'll never forgive myself if you two get hurt in any way possible, got it?"

They both nodded.

"In that case, let's get some Heartless!"

XXXXXX

We ran out onto the street the alleyway connected to and saw hundreds of Heartless attacking innocent civilians. I wanted to rush in there and kill them all, but we needed to think first.

"How do we defeat them all without hurting the civilians?" Emily asked me. I pondered for a brief second before an idea struck my mind.

"Kyra" I turned to the young girl beside me "Do you know a spell called Stop?"

"Yeah, my mommy taught it to me!" Kyra said "Why?"

"I need you to cast it on the entire crowd of people and Heartless" I explained "That way I can pinpoint all the Heartless and take them out without hurting anyone."

"Good idea, Nex" Emily smirked before turning to Kyra "Kyra, sweetie, do you think you can do that for us?"

"I'll twy..." Kyra said before she closed her eyes and began to cast the spell "STOP!" she yelled, and the entire crowd of humans and Heartless stopped instantaneously. Without wasting time, I charged straight at the Heartless and began mowing them down easily without hurting a single soul. After my run, I twirled around my Keyblade (epically, if I may add) before placing it on my back. The effects of Stop, well, stopped and the Heartless I slashed at disappeared from existence.

"Huh? Are they gone?" someone from the crowd asked.

"We're saved, we're saved!" another shouted in joy.

"Look, a Keyblade wielder!" said yet another in shock and joy.

"He's come to protect us!" a woman cried out in happiness.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" the crowd cheered for my success. However, we all heard something big coming this way. The buildings were too large to see what it was, but whatever it was, it was big, mean and more than likely a Heartless. Eventually, it revealed itself to be a gigantic black Heartless with two jester-like feet, two menacing hands, a heart-shaped hole in its chest and weird tentacle things all over its face. It had the biggest glowing yellow eyes I've ever seen in my life. It let out a ferocious roar as it continued walking towards us all. By this point, everyone had run away.

"What in the name of..." I said as I looked at the bulking monstrosity of a Heartless "How am I supposed to defeat that?!"

"With some help" Emily and Kyra took my side in battle "You didn't actually think I'd let you take all the fame and fortune, did you?" I saw that she was holding a simple iron sword in her hands.

"I'll help too!" Kyra said determinably "I wanna beat the baddies so they nevwr evwr come here again!"

"You guys..." I said "Thank you. Now, let's go!"

[Boss: Darkside] (Please play 'Destiny's Force' from Kingdom Hearts)

The Heartless stopped in its tracks the second it saw us readying to attack it. Without haste, it attacked my partners, who fortunately managed to get out of the way in time. This left me wondering something though.

"Why is it only attacking you two?" I asked.

"Does it really matter?" Emily shouted at me while avoiding the creature's attacks "Use this opportunity to strike at it!"

"Right!" I said. I looked at my enemy with my Keyblade to my side before I charged straight at it, slashing right down the middle of it. The Heartless roared in pain as it felt the touch of the key-shaped blade across its skin. It finally took me as an enemy and began to attack me too by falling to its knees and smashing the ground I was standing on. I managed to move out of the way, but was still hurt by recoil. The creature then stood up again.

"OOF!" I huffed as I was knocked back by the recoil "Ah... that stung..."

I got up from the attack and saw Kyra attacking the Heartless with a Fire attack as well as Emily attacking it with her sword the best she could. Once again, the Heartless paid me no mind and instead kept on attacking my friends, almost as if that attack he gave me was a warning shot.

"Something doesn't add up..." I said "I guess it doesn't matter now. I better take another shot when I still have the chance!" I readied myself once again and charged at the colossal beast of shadow, slashing at where its heart-shaped hole in its chest was. This seemed to do damage as it roared in agony again.

"Nice one, Nex!" Emily shouted at me with a grin on her face.

"Thanks, but don't let up yet!" I shouted back "Kyra, see if you can cast stop on it!"

"Okay!" Kyra said before she did her best to cast the spell on the behemoth of a Heartless "STOP!"

The giant didn't stop though.

"Uh oh..." I said "I think it might be too big. We need to stun it though long enough for us to damage it properly. Kyra, do you know anything else other than Fire and Stop? Do you know Stopza? At the very least Stopra?

"Um... no..." Kyra hung her head a bit "Mommy only tauwt me Stop, Fire and... *gasp*! Confuse!"

"Not what I had in mind, but I don't think we have much of a CHOICE!" I yelled out the last part of my sentence as Kyra and I dodged the giant Heartless's hand crashing down where we were standing "Kyra, cast it now!"

"Okay!" Kyra nodded before raising her hands and shouting: "Confuse!"

A lavender aura surrounded the creature. The Heartless clutched it head with one of its hands before wobbling around like a fool. Emily and I nodded at each other and charged straight at the giant with full force before jumping up together and slashing down the middle of it, splitting it in two. It exploded into darkness moments later.

[Boss: Defeated] (You can stop the music now)

"Wow... we beat it..." Emily took a few deep breaths "That was actually pretty hard... Now, let's take care of whatever Heartless are left, eh?"

"Emiwy, all the baddies awe gone" Kyra came up to Emily and tugged her pants a bit "I think they all weft when we beat the big baddie."

"Did they now?" Emily said "Huh... Well, that leaves one less job for us to do."

"What, so they come and then leave?" I asked "It doesn't make sense... Mrs. Jun said that Heartless never stop attacking somewhere until it's completely destroyed. Were they being led by that giant Heartless thing, and now that it's dead, they've left?"

"Looks like" Emily said "Although, I personally think that giant one was just as intelligent as the others."

"Hmm? Why's that?" I asked my best friend.

"It looked like it was attacking us mindlessly without the thought that maybe we might pose a threat" she explained as she sheathed her sword into the sheath on her back "Something tells me this wasn't a mindless attack..."

"You think so, eh?" I commented on Emily's theory "Well, we won't find any answers standing around here."

"Right" Emily said "Let's head back to Mrs. Jun's house."

XXXXXX

"So Lucy has moved on..." Mrs. Jun said before sipping a bit of the tea in her hand. We were all sitting down at the dining room table as we explained the entire situation to out foster parent.

"Yes" I said "Kyra here needs a new home, and I was wondering if-"

"Did you think I would say no?" Mrs. Jun smiled before she turned to my younger friend "A friend of yours is like family to me. Welcome to the family, Kyra."

"Thank you, Mrs. Jun..." Kyra smiled at her new guardian.

"Now, you three wanted to tell me something else?" the kind old woman asked us.

"Mrs. Jun, do you know what happened earlier today?" I began "All the screaming and running? Did you hear that?"

"Yes, I did dear" Mrs. Jun said recalling earlier today "But I'm not sure why all those people were running or what they were running from or to."

"From" Emily joined the conversation "The people were running from Heartless, Mrs. Jun. We want to know if you know anything about those things."

The old woman looked at us as if we just told her the apocalypse was upon us. Slowly, she put down her cup full of tea and stood up. She began walking to a bookshelf in the dining room and once she got there, she pulled out a book that had no title, but was black with a red oval-shaped crystal in the centre. She opened up the book and began to read.

"The Heartless were, and still are, a race of horrible creatures that have plagued all worlds since the dawn of time itself" Mrs. Jun read from the book.

"All worlds?" I asked.

"Yes, there are more worlds out there than our little Twilight Town" my foster mother said "Some are vast as the eye can see, while some are smaller than this little house right here. No matter the world, the Heartless will be able to enter it and ruin it."

"Diabolical..." Emily said.

"However," Mrs. Jun continued "the Heartless fear something more than anything else: the Keyblade. The Keyblade was created to combat the darkness and is the only thing that can truly kill Heartless."

"Truly kill?" I asked "You mean if Emily killed one with her sword, it would just come back later?"

"Exactly" the old woman nodded before she continued "Not everyone can wield such a blade, though. The Keyblade sort of has a life of its own you see. It chooses who it thinks is worthy enough to wield it. Looks like you're one lucky boy, Nex."

"It chooses... its wielder?" I questioned what my foster mother just told me "Why did it choose me? I don't think I have anything special about me."

"Perhaps it sensed the good it you, Nex" Mrs. Jun smiled "You are an extremely kind person who I can only think is full of nothing but light. With that Keyblade and your friends, I'm sure that if the Heartless ever come back to this world, you'll be able to defeat them."

"Thank you, Mrs. Jun" I said "Actually, there's one more thing I need to tell you."

"Oh?" Mrs. Jun said "Do tell."

"When we were fighting the Heartless out on the street, they seemed to only attack Kyra and Emily" I explained "It was like they were ignoring me and just going for them specifically."

"Well, the Heartless DO fear the Keyblade, don't they?" Mrs. Jun said.

"I suppose you're right..." I said "Still, I can't help but feel as if there's something more to it than that..."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough" Mrs. Jun smiled "Now, let's try to lighten the mood, hmm? Why don't we all go and take a walk around the block?"

"Sounds good to..." Emily said before she stopped for a second with a look of confusion on her face "Did any of you hear that?"

"Hear what?" I asked her curiously.

"I didn't hewr anythin', Emiwy" Kyra stated.

"Weird... I thought for a moment that..." she stopped again and clutched her head in a bit of pain "Ugh... something... someone is here..."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, now concerned for my friend's wellbeing.

"The park..." Emily said as her pain washed away from her mind "Someone's at the park that we need to meet with. I don't know why, but something tells me that we NEED to go and meet with... whoever that person is."

"Well, looks like we just found what we'll be doing now" I said before I reached out my hand to the little girl standing right beside me "Come along, Kyra. Let's go and meet who Emily's boyfriend is."

"I- wait, what?" Emily's facial expression became one of anger and embarrassment. Kyra and I just giggled at our friend's frustration.

XXXXXX

The park was empty as usual. No one ever came here since they were all too interested in the trains. It was kind of abandoned, but Emily, Kyra and I liked to come here sometimes just to watch all the leaves rustle around and the birds chip.

"Looks like your Intel was wrong, Ems" I said as I looked around the entire park "I don't see anyone here but you, me and Kyra."

"Then who's that?" Kyra pointed at a place in the park. Emily and I looked over to where she was pointing and gasped slightly. We saw someone robed in a long black coat and hood with a long zipper and long sleeves. We couldn't see the person's face as it was concealed by the shadow of the hood.

"Who are you?" I asked the person.

"You don't need to know my name" the person said in a male voice that told me he was at least in his early twenties "But I'm glad that you got my message."

"You were the one that made my head hurt?" Emily asked the robed man.

"Hmm" he nodded once "I needed to tell you that this world, no, all worlds are in danger, more so than usual. You are a Keyblade wielder, so I request that you come with me..." he held out his hand to me.

"To where?" I asked.

"To another world" the man said "You may bring your friends as well if you want, so long as they don't get in the way."

"Mistwr" Kyra began "What would Mrs. Jun think?"

"I shall make sure that she is aware of the situation" the man said "We haven't much time. You must come with me."

"I don't think I trust you very much..." I said as I held out my hand and summoned my Keyblade "You just think we'll go with you without you even telling us your name? Sound kinda shady if you ask me."

"Don't you understand?!" the man raised his voice "I need you to come with me now!"

"No, don't YOU understand?!" I shouted back at the man "Give me one good reason why I should trust you!"

Suddenly, several Heartless wearing blue and silver armour and a red crossed out heart emblem on their chests appeared out of nowhere. Kyra and Emily readied themselves for battle, but the man waved a hand signalling to stand down.

"Heartless can only be truly defeated with the power of the Keyblade" the man said "Let me and the boy deal with them."

My friends nodded in understanding and got back into a relaxed position. The man then brought out his hand in front of him and summoned his own Keyblade that looked like a long dark blue bat wing with a small white angel wing on the end of it.

"He has a Keyblade too?" I questioned to myself. However, I snapped out of my entrancement and went back to focusing on the enemies around me.

"Hyaa!" the man threw his Keyblade like a boomerang, hitting all the Heartless consecutively. Now it was my turn. As soon as the other Keyblade went back to the man, I attacked creatures of darkness by swinging my weapon with all the force I could muster, which created a shockwave that finished off all the Heartless. From their disappearing bodies, glowing hearts began to fly upward to who knows where.

"Do you believe me now?" the man asked.

"That was awesome! Of course I believe you!" I shouted in awe, but then cleared my throat and spoke again "Um, I mean... Y'know, yeah. You were pretty good I guess."

"Then come with me" he put out the hand that didn't have his Keyblade in once again. This time however, I brought out my own free hand and shook it.

"On one condition" I said as I shook his hand "Who are you?"

The man let my hand go and made his Keyblade vanish before he took his hood by both of his hands and threw it off his head, revealing his long silver hair and piercing blue eyes.

"My name is Riku" he said simply "I'm here to help you become a Keyblade Master."

XXXXXX

Author's Note:

Remember; different universe! How are you guys enjoying this so far? I know not many of you are reading this, but if you happen to be a guest and you're enjoying it, then leave a review in the review box! Tell me how I'm doing and what direction you think the story should go in.

Until then, I'll see ya later Scraggsters!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

"Riku?" I asked "You're name is... Riku?"

"Indeed" he answered me simply "I was assigned by your mother to watch over you until the day you could summon a Keyblade. Before you begin to ask questions, know that is the only information I remember. I too awoke here without recollection of my previous life. All I knew was my name and my purpose."

"Well, that's a bit of a letdown..." I said, a bit disappointed at Riku's explanation "But if my mother, my real mother, sent you to help me, then I guess I REALLY have no choice but to join you."

"Good answer" Riku said, retaining his almost expressionless face "Now come; there are many worlds to save."

"And explore, right?" Emily asked the robed man in front of us.

"No, there is no time to lose" Riku stated "We must save that particular world and then leave for the next. The Heartless are growing stronger the more we dawdle. Before we leave, however, we must find this world's Keyhole and lock it so that Heartless may never come here again."

"I'm down with that" I said "So, do you know where it is?"

"What did I just say?" Riku asked still in his normal voice and face "We must FIND this world's Keyhole and lock it."

"Oh..." I said.

"Mistwr Wiku," Kyra began, getting the robed young man's attention "Do you think we gotta beat a big Heartwess ta find the Keyhole?"

"Perhaps..." Riku pondered "They usually appear after we defeat a Heartless leader. I thought the Darkside that you three fought would've revealed it, but it would seem that there is still a stronger enemy around here..."

"The question is, where?" I wondered.

Suddenly, we both saw another armoured Heartless walk by us. It noticed us and fled as quickly as quickly as possible. I readied my Keyblade, but Riku stopped me.

"Where there are smaller Heartless, there are bound to be larger ones" he said "If we follow it, we might find out where the leader is."

"Um... right. I knew that..." I said as I put away my Keyblade. I saw Emily and Kyra just roll their eyes. After that, we all began to chase after the Heartless that had run away from us.

XXXXXX

It continued to run away into the alleyways of Twilight town, making me very impressed at its stamina. Of course, it was a creature of darkness, so my thoughts about it quickly faded away as Emily, Riku, Kyra and I continued to chase after it. Kyra had gotten tired, so Emily began to give her a piggyback ride so we wouldn't leave her behind.

"Don't let up!" I shouted to everyone "I have a feeling we're almost there!"

We all turned a corner in which the Heartless took before us and came across a door that lead to the subway system below us.

"Oh, I really hope the leader Heartless isn't where I think it is..." I moaned "C'mon you guys, let's find that Keyhole and lock this world for good."

"Right!" Kyra and Emily said. Riku said nothing though.

"Riku? Aren't you coming with us?" I asked the robed man.

"No" he answered simply "This is your battle to fight. I have no right to interfere with it."

"But, Riku," I began "you and I are the only ones who can fully kill Heartless. Why would you just leave us like this?"

"You have to prove yourself to me" he said "If you can go in there, defeat the Heartless and return without dying, I'll train you to become a Keyblade Master."

"That's a widdle unfawr" Kyra crossed her arms and pouted angerly.

"But it's what must be done" Riku said "If you can't prove to me right here and now that you are fully capable of defeating Heartless by yourself, then you cannot be trained. Speaking of which, you may not bring your friends with you on this mission."

"Huh?!" Emily said in a shocked tone "But we're Nex's friends! We need to be with him!"

"That's even mowre unfawr!" Kyra stomped down on the ground once before

"I understand your concern," Riku calmed my friends down "but again, I cannot train him if he doesn't do this by himself."

"But I-" Emily began before I stopped her.

"Ems, it's okay" I said "Riku's right; I need to do this alone. On one condition, Riku" I turned to the robed man beside me "My friends will not be excluded from any more missions. Understood?"

"Very well" Riku nodded in agreement "Now go; time is of the essence!"

"Right!" I said before I summoned my Keyblade and rushed down into the depths of the subway system.

XXXXXX

I ran through the tan halls of the subway so I could find my way to the centre of all this commotion. Along the way, I had to defeat more Heartless that blocked my path. The weird thing was, there were some Heartless with emblems and some without. Was it like a rank system? My questions would have to wait for later.

"Hiya!" I shouted as I slashed more Heartless on my way downward. The weird thing was, they weren't attacking me either. But they weren't afraid or anything; they were straight up ignoring me.

"Wait... huh?" I questioned as soon as I realized they were completely ignoring my presence "Why are they ignoring me? Surely someone like me would make them feel scared, right?"

"Amazing..." said a female voice from the other end of the short but still spacious hallway I was in. I looked and saw a young woman wearing a black flower dress much like Kyra's, only longer. She had midnight blue hair and green eyes. She also had an emblem on her arm that looked exactly like the ones some of the Heartless had. Her face showed me she was studying me closely.

"This is truly fascinating..." she said "The Heartless seem to completely ignore you. How curious..."

"Um... and you are?" I asked the woman.

"And it speaks too! Oooo, this is going to be such a fun day!" she made an 'awesome' face (AN: Think Rainbow Dash).

"You didn't answer my question" I pointed my Keyblade at her once I realized the Heartless were ignoring her too. Or rather, it seemed they were obeying her more than anything else.

"Oh, hush now" the young woman lightly scolded me "No need to get so aggressive. My name is Kayla, and I'm a scientist! Oh, sorry, I mean I'm a Heartless."

"You're a what?" I asked her again.

"Hmm... you must have bad ears" Kayla chuckled "I said I'm a Heartless. Y'know, these things around me? Only, I'm different from them. I'm a High Heartless, which means I have a conscious outside just destroying everything."

"So you've been the one commanding the Heartless to attack Twilight Town?" I asked her.

"Correct" she smiled wickedly "But my ways are more than just attacking mindlessly. I tactically placed the Darkside in town to distract any Keyblade wielders around so I could finish preparing my true ultimate weapon!"

"Oh?" I asked "And what would that be, exactly?"

"Me..." Kayla said slyly as she began to have Heartless without emblems crawl all over her. She soon became completely enveloped in them. Now she looked like a pitch black cocoon. And like all cocoons, it hatched into only what I can describe as a giant black spider with glowing green eyes and midnight blue armour all over the top of its body, save for the head. It had a crossed out heart emblem on the piece of armour over its abdomen.

"What the heck?!" I shouted in a questioning tone.

"Do you like this form?" the spider, who I assumed was a transformed Kayla, asked me in a sly yet dark voice "This is my true form under that awful human skin. Boy, it sure feels nice to get out of it. Now, would you kindly leave before I kill you? Just kidding; I was going to kill you anyway."

"Bring it on!" I shouted as I readied myself to fight the giant spider Heartless.

[Boss: Kayla] (Please play 'The Encounter' from Kingdom Hearts II)

Kayla roared ferociously at me before lifting up her front two legs and slamming them down onto me, pushing me to the back wall of the hallway. Before I could get back up, she summoned lesser Heartless to attack me. While at first I thought I was safe since they've been ignoring me this whole time, my mind quickly changed when they began to charge at me. Kayla must've given them orders.

"So you wanna play like that, eh?" I asked "Fine. Let's play."

I crouched down and began spinning around on the area which I stood on, defeating all of the emblem-less Heartless. I then stopped, and while I felt a little dizzy, I pointed my Keyblade right at Kayla again.

"Impressive" she said "But you won't survive... THIS!"

She opened her mouth and began spitting a stream of liquid right at me. I dodged it, and good thing too; the floor I stood on corroded away. Without thinking, I charged right at the armoured spider and swung at it. My Keyblade deflected right off her armour. I don't know what I was thinking... oh, wait.

"This armour is invincible!" Kayla laughed "You won't be able to break through it! I've already won! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

I looked around the hallway and noticed the corroded floor. Then an idea struck my mind. Maybe I didn't have to break through her armour...

"Hey!" I got her attention again "Come and get me!" I ran farther away from her, so naturally she spat her acid spit at me. I ran around her with the acid stream in hot pursuit. Eventually, I made my lap and heard the sound of crumbling below us.

"Y'know, for a scientist, you aren't very smart" I said just before the floor below us crumbled away and made us fall down to the next level, flipping Kayla on her back and giving me a chance to strike a glowing red crystal on her abdomen. As soon as we hit the bottom of the large cylindrical room, I jumped onto her abdomen and hacked away at her weak point. I didn't get too for long as the giant spider hopped up and onto her feet once again.

"You wretched little vermin!" she shouted at me "Time to try something new..."

Before I could react, Kayla began walking up the walls of the room. A cannon then came out of her abdomen and started blasting dark energy balls at me. I dodged most of them, but was hit by one or two that I swear came out of nowhere. As she continued firing at me, another idea hit my mind.

I twirled around my Keyblade and slashed at one of the incoming balls of darkness, returning it to sender and causing Kayla to scream in agony. She fell to the floor once again on her back, giving me the chance to strike again.

"Hiya!" I shouted as I slashed at the crystal with the Keyblade. Again, it wasn't long before Kayla picked herself up again, but I could see that she was beginning to become tired from our battle.

"This is... the last straw... human..." she said between breaths "Heartless... ATTACK!"

Several armoured Heartless popped out of the ground from nowhere and proceeded to engage me in combat. I quickly disposed of them, but Kayla summoned more before I could even catch a breath.

"Die! Die! DIE!" she chanted "Let the darkness consume you and turn your body into an empty husk!"

"I don't think so..." I said as I continued to fight the Heartless that Kayla summoned. After beating the entirety of the minion Heartless, my Keyblade began to glow.

"What?" I asked myself "Why is it doing that?"

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, an idea popped into my head. Putting that idea to fruition, I charged right at Kayla and rammed my Keyblade into her pincer-like jaw. I grinned and then threw my Keyblade over my head with the giant spider Heartless still attached. Kayla landed behind me now flipped on her back, exposing her weak point.

"Light will always triumph over darkness!" I yelled as I jumped into the air and forced the Keyblade right into the crystal, shattering it and making Kayla cry out in agony.

[Boss: Defeated] (You can stop the music now)

"You... you think this is... over?" she asked in a weak voice "Boy... this is only... the beginning of... what's to come! You will rot in... ugh... uh..."

The giant spider didn't even get to finish her sentence before she began to disappear from existence in a cloud of shadowy smoke.

"Wow..." I put away my Keyblade, put both my hands on my knees and crouched down a bit as I breathed heavily "That was... some fight... now, how do I get back up?" I looked up at the hole above me that shone light down on to the area.

XXXXXX

After my climb, I exited out of the subway system and saw Emily, Kyra and Riku staring at a giant keyhole in the sky.

"So," I began "is that the World Keyhole?"

My friends and teacher turned around and sighed in relief to see me in one piece.

"You've done well, Nex" Riku said before turning to the keyhole again "Indeed this is the World Keyhole that I spoke to you about. Now, you must lock it with your Keyblade so that Heartless may never enter this world again."

"Understood" I nodded before I realized something "Wait, you have a Keyblade don't you? Why didn't you lock it when you saw it in the sky?"

"You need practice in case I'm not here, right?" Riku, for the first time since I've ever met him, smiled a bit.

"Heh... yeah" I chuckled a bit before summoning my Keyblade again and pointing it straight at the keyhole "Let's do this..." I said right before a straight beam of white light came out of my Keyblade and hit the keyhole, shattering the space around it and locking it for good.

"Well, that definitely happened" Emily said "So, what do we do now?"

"Now, we move onto the next World Keyhole" Riku said "We've wasted enough time here. Come, we must hurry..." he lifted up his right hand and summoned a green door-sized portal to his right.

"What about Mrs. Jun?" I asked my new teacher.

"Don't worry" Riku nodded "I made sure to tell her about this journey."

"Thank you" I smiled and headed into the portal the robed man created.

"Are you sure that he'll be safe, Riku?" Emily asked him.

"I make no guarantees" he said "But if the time comes, I will protect him with my life."

"Thank you, Riku..." Emily said before she too entered the portal to the next world.

"Thanks, Mistwr Wiku!" Kyra gleefully said as she skipped her way into the green gateway.

"You're all welcome..." Riku silently said before walking into the portal after us.

XXXXXX

Mrs. Jun's P.O.V.

XXXXXX

It was beginning to get a bit late, so naturally I worried for the children I had adopted. I was about to go out and look for them myself when I saw a note on the dining room table. I went to pick it up and read it aloud.

"Dear Sarah," the letter began "Your children are safe, don't worry. After the attack on Twilight Town from the Heartless, and after seeing Nex perform so well to take down the Darkside, I have done my orders from long ago and taken him under my wing to train him to become a Keyblade Master. His friends wished to join him, so I agreed. While they wished to say goodbye to you for a while, time was of the essence and we had to go to the next world quickly. Know, however, that they send their farewells to you. Sincerely, Nex's master."

I sat down in one of the seats and re-read the letter as many times as I could. It didn't change.

"I hope for their safe return..." I silently prayed "Please, I beg that you bring them back safely to me..."

XXXXXX

Author's Note:

Yay! New chapter! So yeah, I made a new species of Heartless: The High Heartless. There are six in total if you exclude their leader, who I'm pretty sure you've already figured out who it is. Either way, I hope you're enjoying this!

BTW, be sure to leave a review! Remember, even if you don't have an account, you can still leave a review.

Also, I'm accepting world requests! If you want a world to appear in this story, just give me a review and it's done! Requests end when I have seven worlds from you guys.

Oh, and I finished this chapter at Twilight. So... yay? Continuity?

Until then, I'll see ya later Scraggsters!

Oh, and if you're new to my account and don't know why I call you Scraggsters, it's a long story. Go read my "My Little Pony: The After Years" story if you want a full explanation.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

We walked out of the green portal that took us away from our home and into a whole new world. I stretched as both the sun shone down on my face and the rest of my friends exited the portal. I looked around the area and saw we were on a grassy plain with a few trees here and there. Behind the portal was a shoreline and a seemingly endless amount of water.

"Where are we?" Emily was the first to ask the question.

"It would seem that this place is foreign, even to me" Riku stated "The name of the world is not important right now. We have a job to do."

"Riku, chill man" I calmed my new teacher down "I'm sure the Heartless can wait. The first step to anything in a foreign world is to learn what it is so we can adapt. THEN we can track down the Heartless, find the keyhole and lock it for good!"

"Yeah Riku, you need to learn to just relax a bit, kay?" Emily came up to the young silver haired man and patted him on the back "Now, why don't we-"

"Somethin's comin'!" Kyra suddenly said "I can feew it..."

"Prepare yourself..." Riku summoned his Keyblade before Emily and I nodded and brought out our sword and Keyblade respectively.

"Wait!" Kyra stopped us "It's not Heartwess. It's... a person? Three peopwl? Yeah, headed this way!"

"If you can sense them, Kyra," I began "can you tell if they're bad or good?"

"I sense... kindness" the seven-year-old said as she tried to focus on the signature "I awso sense... duty, couwage and bwavewy. I think that they awe good."

"Thanks, Kyra" I ruffled up her brunette hair a bit.

"Hey, not fawr!" Kyra got a little cross with me. I'd feel intimidated if she didn't look so gosh darn cute.

"Wait, do you guys see that?" Emily pointed over somewhere with blurry figures walking through the plain "They must be the people Kyra sensed earlier!"

"Why don't we go and say hello, eh?" I asked.

"What a great idea!" Emily smiled "Then we can have more friends with us!"

"Absolutely not" Riku said "I agree with what Nex said about blending in with this world, and I will try to be a bit less strict about traveling. However, tampering with the worlds is the last straw. This is their world, and whatever happens here must happen here and now."

As Riku was talking, I took a look back and saw that Kyra was already a quarter of the way to the other people.

"Riku?" I asked him.

"Yes?" he replied. I pointed straight at Kyra.

"Oh no..." he said as he rushed to Kyra's position on the grassy field. Emily turned around at that time too, saw the little girl wearing the white flower dress and gasped in worry.

"C'mon, Nex!" Emily rushed to where Kyra was.

"Kyra, get back here!" I shouted as I too went to get Kyra back.

But it was too late. The other party over in the distance began coming towards us now.

"Man, Riku is gonna be so angry..." I sighed inwardly.

XXXXXX

"Kyra!" Riku shouted at the young girl, stopping her and turning her around "Kyra, wait!"

"Okay" she said as she stood firmly in place "I won't move an inch!"

"Kyra!" Emily and I shouted as we too caught up to the little rascal "Man, you're fast for someone your age. Although, I suppose that's a good thing."

"I'm sowwy fow wunning off wike that..." Kyra hung her head down low in shame "I just wanted ta meet the othewr peopwl..."

"It's okay, Kyra" Emily crouched down and hugged the young girl "Just don't do that again, okay?"

"*sniff*... okay..."

"Hey, you four!" shouted a voice unfamiliar to us all. We all looked forward to see a boy with brown hair, a red turtleneck jacket, grey straps and black boots with his two friends; a smaller boy with light blue clothing that almost jumpsuit-like in a way with white hair, and a girl with a blonde hair and white robes that were fitted to look like everyday clothing.

"We were wondering what all the commotion was about, so we came over to check on you" the white haired boy stated.

"It's good to see you are" the blonde girl said with relief "We were getting a bit worried. Oops! Silly me. We're talking and we haven't even introduced ourselves. My name's Colette, the one with the red jacket is Lloyd and the one with the white hair is Genis."

"It's nice to meet you all" I said with a smile and a nod "My name's Nex. Tall, dark and bland here is Riku, the one with the overly small jacket and shirt is Emily..."

"And I'm Kywa!" Kyra said ecstatically.

"She means Kyra" Emily quickly corrected the young girl's slight lisp "So, why are you guys here? Are you exploring the place?"

"It's kinda like that" Lloyd said "Colette here is the Chosen, so we're on our way to the temple to offer our prayers to the Regeneration of the world."

"Regeneration?" Riku asked "I don't understand. May you elaborate?"

"You mean... you really don't know?" Genis asked "I thought everyone knew the Chosen's journey and what she's gotta do."

"Looks like we found some exceptions" Lloyd chuckled a bit "But seriously, how have you gone this long without at least hearing rumors?"

"We- *mphhh*!" Riku put a hand over my mouth to shut me up.

"-don't get out often" he said in my place "We have never heard of the Chosen or the Regeneration of the world. May you fill us in?" he put away the hand covering my mouth.

"Of course!" Colette smiled innocently "C'mon; let's walk and talk..."

As we walked to wherever the trio was originally going, I gave Riku a glare of slight disgust.

"We've already told them our names, not to mention we disrupted their quest" Riku whispered to me "I don't want to be telling them that we're from a different world. At least do that much for me, okay?"

I sighed after a bit of thinking and stopped giving him a hateful glare. I couldn't be mad at him because he was completely right; not only would we risk getting the word around to nearby Heartless, but it would just look so awkward telling them. Yeah, you try believing it when someone says they're from another dimension. Not gonna happen.

I just hope we get to our destination quickly. Riku's right; Heartless are roaming this world. But something told me that we'd find more Heartless if we stuck with these three kids for a while.

XXXXXX

THE CHOSEN LAND

XXXXXX

After walking for a while, we finally got to someplace worth noting; a temple on a large hill next to a mountain in the middle of nowhere. It was cylindrical and had tan walls and a green dome roof. All around the tower-like temple were open windows.

"What is this place?" I asked the party we joined not a few moments ago.

"This is the temple that we talked about" Genis said "The Temple of Martel. Inside, Colette will take her role as the Chosen for real!"

"Yep!" Colette smiled "Let's not waste any more time."

"I agree" Lloyd said "I'm looking forward to-"

"HELP!" shouted a female voice coming from the temple.

"*gasp*! Someone's in twouble!" Kyra shouted.

"That sounded like... Phaidra!" Lloyd exclaimed "We need to save her!"

"Right!" we all nodded and ran for the base of the temple.

XXXXXX

Finally, we reached the temple's entrance and saw three men cornering an old woman who had blonde hair like Colette and a white and blue robe over her body. She also had a cane supporting her body. Two of the men that were attacking the temple had red clothing with an iron helmet and armour along with brown boots. The other man had black hair and a small goatee. He wore a black vest with a man's white tunic and silver metal shoes.

"Where is the Chosen?" asked the man with the goatee.

The old woman wouldn't tell. However, she saw us and said: "Colette, run!"

The three men turned around and finally noticed us. We didn't flee however. We stood our ground and let this scenario play out.

"There she is!" said one of the armoured men.

"I won't let you filthy Desians take Colette!" Lloyd stepped out in front of Colette, unsheathing two swords from his belt.

"Desians?" questioned one of the men "Ahahahaha!"

"What's so funny?" Genis asked.

"Fine then" the 'Desian' continued "Fall by the hands of the 'Desians' you so hate!"

"You four," Lloyd said to me and my party "let us handle these guys."

"But I-" was all I could say before Riku stopped me.

"Understood" Riku agreed "But if things get out of hand, we'll be joining in. No exceptions."

"Got it!" Lloyd smiled and turned to face his enemies before charging right at them and attacking them with his friends. Speaking of which, Genis attacked the Desians with a wooden hammer-like thing that launched fireballs out of it, and Colette attacked with two white Chakrams.

"This is their world" Riku said to not just me, but Emily and Kyra as well "It's only fair that they fight the people disrupting their peace. If Heartless appear though, that will be our cue."

We all nodded.

"Thank you for understanding" Riku nodded as well. As soon as we did, we heard the sounds of two people falling in battle. We turned around and saw the two Desians in armour that attacked the area were defeated.

"Yeah, way to go guys!" Emily cheered.

"Ugn... it's... not over... yet..." said one of the downed Desians before he turned to the black haired man "General Botta... permission to... send in... the secret weapon...?"

"Permission granted" General Botta nodded before he whistled a bit. As soon as we did, we heard giant footsteps coming from inside the temple. Then, something came out of the empty door. It was an Emblem Heartless with a giant red and black body covered in thick silver and yellow armour. It had huge feet, arms and hands, but it's head was tiny.

"Whoa! What is that thing?!" Genis asked as he saw the giant Heartless in front of him.

"A Heartless?!" I questioned as I brought out my Keyblade "Lloyd, Genis, Colette! Stay back! We've dealt with these things before! You had your fight, and now it's our turn!"

"Understood" Lloyd said as he brought his team a bit away from the Heartless. Riku brought out his own Keyblade, Emily unsheathed her sword and Kyra prepared her magic. The shadowy creature roared in anger as it prepared to attack us.

[Miniboss: Solid Armour] (Please play 'Rowdy Rumble' from Kingdom Hearts II)

The Heartless began stomping around until it finally threw a punch at me. I jumped over it and began to attack it's body. Alas, it took no sort of damage. It just continued to attack us.

"What the...?" I questioned why it took no damage.

"Think, Nex" Riku shouted "It's covered in armour. Naturally it would have no weak points on its torso. But its head..."

"Is wide open!" I said "Everyone, go for its head!"

"Got it!" Emily said before she jumped up and slashed at the Heartless's tiny weak spot. This attack seemed to do damage to it. Next, Kyra threw a fireball mortar-style at its head, once again doing damage. They continued to support Riku and I in this fight.

Riku jumped on one of the walls and forced his Keyblade onto the head of the creature. I could never hope to do something like that, so I just jumped up and spun in mid-air at the head.

The Heartless wasn't done though. Just as I was about to land another hit, it punched me out of the way, which forced me to the ground. Riku saw this and attacked the creature again as well, while receiving the same results. Next, Emily tried to attack the beast but was slapped out of the way by the back of the Heartless's right hand. Finally, the armoured Heartless turned its direction at Kyra who was shivering in fear.

We wouldn't be able to get up and stop the Heartless in time from getting Kyra. When we thought it was all over. A man with red hair, a dark blue shirt, pants and cape, black shoes and an iron sword two thirds his height swooped in and attacked the Heartless, knocking it back a bit and allowing me to jump up and finish it off, causing it to explode in a cloud of smoke.

[Miniboss: Defeated] (You can stop the music now)

"No! The Heartless was destroyed!" Botta yelled "You two, get up! Retreat for now. We WILL be back for the Chosen soon..." he said specifically to the old woman who had taken refuge away from the fight. All three of the Desians then fled the scene.

"Whoa! That was so cool!" Genis said as the trio came back to the area "I'm glad that... thing is gone now. It looked as if it was a creature of darkness or something..."

"Is everyone alright?" the man who saved asked us all.

"Yeah, thanks..." I clutched my head and shook it a bit "Who are you anyways?"

"My name is Kratos. I'm a mercenary" he replied "I saw that you two were struggling with the Heartless, so I intervened. I didn't want the child to be hurt either."

"Nice to meet you, Kratos!" I said as my friends and I put away our weapons "My name is Nex, and these are my friends Emily, Kyra and Riku."

"And I'm Colette, the Chosen of Regeneration" Colette spoke up "And these are MY friends Lloyd and Genis."

"Pleasure to meet you sir!" Genis said.

"Thank you all so much for protecting the Chosen" the old lady got our attention "My name is Phaidra, and I'm Colette's grandmother as well as one of the priests here at the temple. Unfortunately, the attack has left me as the last priest here. The priests were originally going to help Colette navigate through the temple to speak with Lord Remiel and accept her role as the Chosen of Regeneration. I'm but an old woman, so there is no way I could help her in completing her task."

"For a fee, I will protect Colette and help her reach her destination" Kratos said.

"You would do that? Thank you..." Phaidra smiled.

"Well, c'mon Colette" Lloyd said as he began walking to the temple. Kratos stopped him though.

"No, you'll just get in the way" he said.

"Um, Mr. Kratos sir?" Colette said "I'd feel a lot safer if Lloyd was around when we entered the temple. Please, can he come with us?"

"Fine" Kratos caved in "This isn't a field trip though..." he turned to my group before he entered the temple "While I appreciate your help earlier, I think I'll be able to manage from here on out. Why don't you four head to the small town of Iselia and recollect yourselves?"

"We'll do just that" I said, now fully understanding Riku's wishes "And thank YOU for saving Kyra back there. Just one question: How do you know about the Heartless?"

"Once I get back, I'll tell you" Kratos said before he entered the temple with Lloyd, Colette and Genis.

"Well, I suppose there's nothing left to do than go to the place he suggested" Emily said "Who knows; maybe we'll find something useful there about the Heartless of this world."

"Perhaps..." I said "Alright everyone, let's go."

"Yay! Fiewd twip!" Kyra smiled.

XXXXXX

"Ugh... this fiewd twip is bowring..." Kyra spoke as we walked to Iselia, which Phaidra told us was two miles away from the temple "Emiwy, can you cawry me?"

"Sure, kiddo" Emily said as she crouched down to let Kyra piggy back on her.

"How much farther do we gotta travel?" I asked, tired from all the walking.

"We've walked about a mile and a half" Riku said, not tired from the walk at all "We should be at Iselia soon. Speaking of which, I see it in the distance."

My head perked up a bit and I too noticed the small village between the two mountains. A smile appeared on my face as I suddenly got the energy to keep moving again. However before I could go, Riku asked a question.

"Do you notice something... off about this world, Nex?" Riku asked me.

I looked around the area and was about to answer him 'no' when I realized what he was talking about.

"There's not a single Heartless to be seen..." I answered him.

"This means either the large Heartless we beat earlier was the only Heartless here," Riku said "or they're hiding somewhere and we can't see them..."

"So what do you purpose?" Emily asked us.

"We continue on to Iselia and try to figure out why the Heartless are gone" Riku answered "Onward."

XXXXXX

Finally we got to the quiet little town of Iselia. The dirt paths weren't crowded with people, and I think only thirty people lived within the confines of this place.

"How quiet..." Kyra said "Kinda put me ta... *yawn*... sweep..."

The youngster fell asleep on Emily's back. The older girl just 'awww'd' and continued walking. As we turned the corner, I accidentally bumped into a girl who couldn't have been two years older than me. We she fell to the ground and I got a chance to see her appearance. She had long silver hair in a tail, crimson eyes, a green dress that went down to her knees and black sandals.

"Sorry, miss" I said reaching my hand down to help her up "I didn't see you coming."

"That's quite alright" the girl grabbed my hand and I helped her to her feet "I should've been watching where I was going. *gasp*! Oh, she's so cute..." the girl saw the sleeping Kyra and went over to her "Oh, she's just the most precious thing ever! Is she your sister?"

"Well, I guess you could say that, yeah..." I scratched the back of my head "Her name is Kyra. I'm Nex, robe-y here is Riku and that's Emily, my best friend."

"Nice to meet all of you" the girl bowed "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Axis."

XXXXXX

It's Axis, not Axel! Axel is now Lea anyways!

So yeah, a Tales of Symphonia world. Fancy that. I've been having a lot of fun with that game and I highly recommend it if you're into Real Time RPGs like Kingdom Hearts. Although, Kingdom Hearts is leaning more on the Hack and Slash genre.

I have a confession to make, and my dearest aunt, if you're reading this, this is specifically for you. I've lost my copy of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. I have no idea where it could've gone off to. I needed to get that off my chest, so I'm sorry to anyone reading this right now who doesn't happen to be my aunt. Thank you for understanding.

Until then, I'll see ya later Scraggsters!

Oh, and if you have any questions about my fanfiction, feel free to leave them as a review. And be sure to follow and fav this story!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

"Nice to meet you, Axis!" I held out my hand again, only this time to shake the hand that belonged to the one I bumped into "So, where're you going in such a hurry?"

"Raine, Iselia's school teacher, went out to some old ruins for a while and asked me if I could teach the class until she got back" Axis explained "Speaking of which, looks like I gotta get going."

"Mind if we come?" Emily asked the older girl.

"Sure, if you don't have anything important to be doing right now" she agreed "And if you bring your little sister with you."

"Huh? Kyra?" I asked looking at the youngster and then back to Axis "Why? Is she important for some reason?"

"No, she's just really, really cute" Axis squeed "Alright, follow me!"

Without question, we began to follow the older girl to wherever the Iselia schoolhouse was. While Emily, Kyra and I had no problem with following Axis, Riku didn't seem to want to join us. As the three girls walked off without me, I tried to ask him why. However, he answered my question before I could even say it.

"That Axis girl has an interesting aura" Riku said "It's neither good nor evil. Don't fear; I trust her physical form, but I wouldn't trust her heart just yet..."

"How can I trust someone's heart?" I asked.

"A body and heart are two very different things" Riku explained "Basically, I trust her as a person, but I have yet to decide whether or not to trust her kindness or emotions."

"Maybe in due time, you'll come to trust her?" I wondered.

"Perhaps," Riku sighed a bit "but we'll just have to see."

"Well with that out of the way, let's meet up with the others, okay?" I suggested to my teacher.

"Very well" Riku nodded before we began walking to which building I saw the three girls enter.

'Riku's right, though...' I thought 'That girl... Axis... Like Riku, I feel she's hiding something too. The question is, is she hiding it intentionally or does she even realize she's hiding something at all?'

XXXXXX

The school wasn't anything to look at, but it got the job done. It was a simple wooden classroom with a large chalkboard on the front wall and about fifteen desks, excluding the large teacher's desk at the front of the class. Already twelve students were here waiting for their teacher to arrive. Three were missing, and I could only assume they were Lloyd, Genis and Colette.

"Hello, class" Axis said after she finished preparing herself for class and after she sat down at the teacher's desk "My name is Axis, and I'll be your teacher until Professor Sage comes back. Now, I want you all to open your history textbooks to page seventy-eight; The Chosen of Regeneration."

Almost immediately, the twelve students, six girls and six boys, opened their textbooks at the same time. They then began to read the script in front of them.

"Wow, nobody in my class worked as hard as they do..." Emily watched all the hardworking students nose deep in their studies. Suddenly, Riku looked surprised.

"What did you just say?" he asked my best friend.

"Um... nobody in my class worked as hard as they do?" she responded.

"Just the first word" Riku demanded.

"What, you mean 'nobody'?" she questioned.

Riku looked at her with a stare that intimidated us all, including Kyra. I'll tell you, if looks could kill, we'd all be dead by now.

"No... that's impossible..." he looked at Axis, who either couldn't hear, didn't hear, or ignored our conversation "They've been extinct for years. I read in the library in Twilight Town. It just can't be..."

"Mistwr Wiku, you'wr starting ta scawre me..." Kyra said as she hid behind Emily's legs.

"Do you mind if you explain, Riku?" I asked the robed man.

"Y-Yes, of course..." Riku said "Long ago, so I read, there existed creatures known as Nobodies; beings that have had their hearts stolen by the Heartless. They don't deserve to exist and were affiliated with neither good nor evil, therefore they were hunted down. Eventually, after the Heartless stopped attacking the worlds for many years, the Nobodies were driven to extinction."

"So, why are you telling us this?" I asked the fateful question I knew I would regret asking later.

"Do you remember when I said Axis's aura was neither good nor evil?" Riku reminded me. My eyes widened in understanding of exactly what he mean by that.

"So that means..." I breathed out

"Axis is..." Emily did as well.

"Come; we must inform her of this news" Riku said. We all nodded in agreement before walking over to the teacher's desk where Axis was both marking some work and eating an apple.

"Axis, we have something we need to tell you" I began "It's important that you know since this moment right here could decide what you want to do with your life."

"Um... okay?" Axis said "Well, spill the beans. What do you have to say to me?"

"Axis, we think that you may be a-" was all Riku could say before a man with a green shirt and brown vest (that wasn't all he was wearing though) came bursting into the classroom.

"Axis..." he panted "There are... more... Heartless... in the... village..."

"Heartless?!" all five of us shouted at the same time before Axis spoke individually "You four stay here. I got this..."

"Axis wait!" Riku yelled "It's too dangerous!"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" the older girl rushed off to the Heartless invading the town.

"She won't last two minutes..." Emily sighed "Well, are you guys ready?"

We all nodded in confirmation before my three friends and I rushed outside the school to see the commotion outside.

"Mere Shadows, but Heartless nonetheless" Riku said as he summoned and readied his Keyblade "Prepare yourself."

"Right" I nodded and did the same as Riku, summoning my Keyblade and entering my attack position "Let's go get some- wait, is that Axis?" I saw the older girl come face-to-face with one of the Heartless "Axis, don't!"

The thing that came next surprised all of us, including Kyra. The Heartless didn't attack Axis, Axis attacked the Heartless... with her own Keyblade. It had a dark blue blade and handle with a slightly lighter blue bracing around the handle. The key part was shaped like a rectangle with three spikes coming out of the back (AN: It's Stormfall)

"I don't believe it..." Riku said, surprisingly "She's a Keyblade wielder as well. But if our theories are correct, then... Axis's existence should be impossible!"

"If she IS what we think she is, how is she able to wield a Keyblade?" I asked.

"No time to think now," Riku said preparing himself again as soon as he saw the Heartless approaching our position "here they come."

"Right" I said before I charged straight at the Heartless, slicing most of the ones in front of me with one slash of my Keyblade. Once again, the remaining Heartless ignored my presence and continued to attack the village and more specifically, my friends. Regardless, I continued attacking.

"Nex! Emblems!" Riku shouted out to me. I turned my head and saw several of those small and annoying armoured things. Without question, I charged straight at them, jumping into the air and then slamming my weapon onto the ground, creating a shockwave and throwing the Heartless back a bit. Axis came up to them and finished the job with a spinning attack.

"Axis..." I said quietly, but loud enough for the older girl to hear.

"Wait, you guys have Keyblades as well?" she asked Riku and I "Which means I'm not the only one! Alright, enough chitchat. Let's do this thing!" she got back into her attack stance.

"Right!" I said as I did the same. Riku joined us moments later before we all clashed our Keyblades and created a blinding light that wiped out the rest of the Heartless. At least for the time being. We all put away our Keyblades away and Axis proceeded to ask the question Riku and I were expecting her to ask.

"Just who are you guys?" she asked us. Well, so much for keeping the fact we hail from another world a secret. Before I could answer her, Riku answered her question with a question of his own.

"The bigger question is, who are you?" he asked the semi-school teacher "After much consideration and thought, I have deduced that you are what many call a 'Nobody'."

"Well that's a little mean..." Axis was taken aback by my teacher's comment.

"No, not that kind of nobody" Riku sighed "I mean you're a part of the species known as Nobodies; creatures that don't deserve existence."

"Oh, so first you're telling me I'm a nobody and now you're telling me I don't deserve to exist?" questioned the silver haired girl before she turned to Kyra, Emily and I "He isn't very big in the social department, is he?"

We all shook our heads.

"What he's trying to say is that you might be a being known as a Nobody" Emily said "Basically, Nobodies are created when- *sigh*... listen to me; I'm turning into a nerd. To make this less complicated, you're an empty husk with no heart..."

Axis just glared at my best friend in disbelief.

"Wow... That was a poor choice of words..." Emily sheepishly grinned.

"There's no way we can tell you without accidentally insulting you, it looks like" I took note of my friends' failed attempts "Why don't we just tell you about ourselves, eh? As you probably guessed, two of us are Keyblade wielders. We hail from a world called Twilight Town and are on a mission to lock this world's keyhole so the Heartless will never return here again."

"If it means getting all these Heartless away from this place, then I'm in!" Axis nodded her head as she listened to my explanation.

"Axis, you're a confusing person to say the least" Riku stated "You are a Nobody, and yet you have the power to wield a Keyblade. It's confusing, but perhaps in your past life, you were a Keyblade wielder. It's still interesting..."

"Past life?" the girl asked the robed man with silver hair.

"Well, you-" was all Riku could say before I stopped him and shook my head. I was half expecting him to voice his thoughts anyways, but he just slowly nodded once and remained silent.

"What do we do now?" Kyra asked us.

"Well, Riku told me that in order to find the World Keyhole, we need to seek out and destroy a really strong enemy in this world" I said "I say first order of business is to find this strong enemy somewhere in this world and kill it."

"Or him" Emily added.

"Or her" Axis did the same.

"Right!" I said "So, if I was a really strong enemy, where would I be?"

"More than likely in the last place you'd expect" Riku said "Our target may not even be here yet. However, Heartless are everywhere. Axis, are there any places where the Heartless may be hiding? It might be there where our main enemy is."

"Well, there's always Iselia Forest" Axis suggested "I can't think of a darker place than there. I've tried to go there and check before, but those stupid Desians keep telling me to go away..."

"Desians?" I questioned "I've got a bone to pick with them... Wait, why are they blocking your path through the forest?"

"It's because of the stupid human ranch that they've set up there" Axis said "They don't want anyone coming near there or the Desians will attack Iselia."

"Human ranch?" Riku asked.

"I'll explain on the way there" Axis said as she began walking out of the village "C'mon!"

Riku, Emily, Kyra and I just looked at each other, shrugged and began to follow the girl leading us into what would be the most frightening thing we would ever see in our lives up to that point.

XXXXXX

Axis wasn't kidding; Iselia Forest was dark from all the trees blocking out the sunlight. In fact, it wasn't just dark; it was a nest of Heartless. They all just stared at us with glowing yellow eyes, never attacking. It was a little unsettling to say the least.

"Why awrn't the Heartwess attackin' us?" Kyra asked us as she hid behind her favourite blonde haired girl.

"Maybe it's another High Heartless?" I suggested.

"Pardon?" Riku wondered. I had forgotten I hadn't told him or any other of my friends out the powerful Heartless I found in the subway systems of Twilight Town.

"Oh, sorry, forgot to tell you" I said "In the subway system of Twilight Town, I met and defeated a powerful human-like Heartless who was commanding the Heartless to attack the town. Before our battle, she said that she was a member of the High Heartless; a group of intelligent Heartless who've been organising all of the Heartless offences."

"And do you think we'll find one here?" Emily asked me.

"Of course you will" said a voice that screamed 'I'm better than you in every way' "After all, aren't I standing right here?"

"We all looked to our left and saw a man clothed in a black robe with dark red armour in his left shoulder with the Heartless Emblem on the largest part. His eyes were blue and his black hair went down to his waist with red highlights on the tips of each hair. His hands were in his pockets as of currently and he wore a smug smile upon his face.

"Who are you?!" Axis brought out her Keyblade.

"Relax, I'm not here to fight you... yet..." the man smiled smugly even more than he already was "I'm merely observing the situation. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Leonidas, and if you couldn't guess by now, I'm one of the High Heartless."

"You were right, Nex" Riku said to me "The High Heartless look very humanoid. How that's possible is beyond me however. Unless..."

"Unless?" I wondered.

"...never mind. It's nothing..." Riku said pretending he never said anything in the first place.

"Not the talkative type, are we?" Leonidas asked my teacher "Fine. We'll see how long that lasts on your journey. Now, I believe you five were looking for a certain powerful enemy, correct? Well, you won't find any here. I am not your enemy as of currently. In fact, I very much wish to help you before I go around and disposing of you. You see, a wise man once told me that the two most important things to a story are the conflict and the resolution, and frankly, your resolution isn't going nearly as fast as we had originally perceived."

"So what are you planning on doing to 'help' us, hmm?" Axis asked the man "Time us so we move faster? Send a wave of Heartless to Iselia?"

"My dear child, why would I do that?" Leonidas chuckled a bit "Yes, I may be A Heartless, but I'm far from what my name implies. As to answer your question, well, I plan to simply aid you the best I can. Near here there is a human ranch that is filled to the brim with darkness. It actually made me cry a bit from how beautiful it was. Anyway, if you're looking for a powerful foe to beat, I'd start there."

"Why are you helping us?" Emily asked as she folded her arms in disbelief.

"Didn't I just tell you?" Leonidas asked slyly "My, my, you have a short memory, don't you? Why, I'd even go so far as to say you've lost a great majority of it."

"Huh?" Emily questioned his choice of words "What are you-"

"I'm afraid our little chat is over" the black haired man said "Until then, farewell..." he snapped his fingers and vanished along with most of the Heartless from the forest.

"So, we gotta find the human ranch?" I asked.

"It would seem that way" Riku said "Come; we must be off. If the High Heartless's information is correct, then we'll be finding our target at the ranch. I still can't believe the Desians keep humans locked up and into slavery..." he recalled what Axis had said about the ranch.

"I plan on saving every single person in that camp!" I said "I don't care if this is my world or not; I won't have slavery around. Not when I'm alive!"

"Yeah, way to go Nex!" Emily cheered.

"Then it's settled..." Axis said with a deep sigh "We go to the human ranch of Iselia Forest!"

XXXXXX

And… cut! Awesome take guys! You did great! Wait, I'm talking to myself again, aren't I?

Make sure to tell me what you want as a world in this story! This Namco game known as Tales of Symphonia is the only exception because it was requested by a good friend of mine. Everything else has to be Disney related. This does mean, however, you can choose from Marvel, Disney, Lucasfilm, or Pixar! Seriously guys, I need help! Place a review and tell me what you think should appear in this story!

Until then, I'll see ya later Scraggsters!


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